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“We are waiting for your answer, Mrs. Angelos,” Theo taunted, his tone laced with something that ate away at my ability to hold it together.
With as cool and emotionless a tone as I could muster, I whispered, “When the two men I loved sold me out for an agenda they never saw fit to tell me about.”
Theo scowled at me. “Agenda? You’re the?—”
Immediately Xander stepped between us, shooting Theo a warning glare before returning his attention to me.
“This isn’t the time nor place for this discussion,” he said, his voice firm and steady. “Let’s save it for another location. I will procure our means of transportation to ensure your safe arrival back at your home.”
I kept my angry focus on Theo, not saying a word.
Some things never changed. Xander would always remain the voice of reason.
Unruffled and poised.
Though this new refined way of speaking must be a talent he’d picked up over the recent years.
Theo continued to peer at me, making it very clear we were in a stare-off.
Keeping my gaze locked with his and just to annoy him for making the brat comment, I asked, “Well, are you getting the car like you said, or do I need to arrange my own way home after all?”
“I’ve got it covered.” Xander stepped in front of me, blocking my view of Theo.
His dark eyes were just as intense, just as painful to look into. These two men had been my everything, my safe place. Now I was alone, without a soul to wrap their arms around me to give me even a second of comfort.
Shaking the thoughts away, I pivoted and called over my shoulder, “Okay then, I’m waiting.”
Fifteen minutes later, I was seated comfortably in the back of one of the luxurious cars Simon Drakos provided to guests who wanted to depart earlier than their companions.
Xander steered the car down the winding road while Theo sat in stoic silence beside him. I had no doubt they were completely aware of my every movement. We hadn’t exchanged a single word after leaving the Drakos estate.
The tension between us lay so heavy, filling the air and weighing down the car. And time felt suspended, as if it had been centuries since we’d been this close, this intimate, without anyone else around.
It had only been a little under five years since I was that naive nineteen-year-old, the girl who loved hard, dreamed big, and planned to change the status quo with these men by her side.
But that person had vanished, and I’d learned to keep my secrets hidden and to trust no one.
I’d trusted the men before me, and what had that gotten me?
Absolutely nothing.
Tonight, so much crashed down upon me. First, Nyx and Simon threw their bomb my way with them wanting to be my champions, to teach me to fight back, to help me destroy Andraius, and now these two before me.
It made no sense.
I wanted to hope, but could I afford to hope?
I couldn’t be naive. My sisters and my mother depended on me.
I barely saw them as it was. I couldn’t risk those few precious moments by doing anything stupid.
If only my body understood what was at stake. A war played out inside me. One where the memories of the past resurfaced, reminding me of everything denied me for years.
I pressed my fingers to the bridge of my nose and dropped my head back to the seat, closing my eyes.
Shouldn’t I hate them for leaving me to fend for myself? Shouldn’t I lash out, be the bitch persona I’d cultivated to protect myself?
I’d tried, and it felt so wrong, as if I wasn’t being true to the real me.
